Race to Zero November Dialogues: Expression of Interest

Building a climate-neutral and resilient world remains as urgent as ever. Collaboration between Parties and non-Party stakeholders (businesses, cities, subnational regions, investors and civil society) will be essential to grapple with the complexities of global transformation and promote high ambition of all stakeholders in the course of recover better.

The High-Level Champions for Global Climate Action have been exploring innovative and alternative ways to support such collaboration this year. A key opportunity from 9 to 19 November 2020 has been identified by them to convene a series of virtual dialogues across multiple time zones in order to 1) reflect on the progress in mitigation and adaptation made by non-Party stakeholders during a challenging 2020, and 2) to create enabling conditions for crossing ten tipping points toward systems transformation alongside national enhancement of NDCs and the development of long-term strategies. By November 2020, the Marrakech Partnership Climate Action Pathways will have been enhanced with the analysis and granular detail needed to inform deep discussions across sectors of the global economy. The Champions’ aim through these virtual dialogues is to build collaboration around the Climate Action Pathways, guided by science, helping to accelerate the transition, as described in the report which many contributed to and which was commissioned by the UK presidency in 2019.

Interested organizations, coalitions and initiatives were invited to express their interest by completing this form and submitting it to racetozero@unfccc.int by Friday, 10 July 2020. Due to the great level of interest, it is taking additional time for the High-Level Champions to conclude the assessments. All interested partners will be notified by the High-Level Champions and their teams by the end of August at the latest. Communications and outreach are planned to start over the course of September.

More information on the format of the dialogues can be found below.

Concept

Each virtual dialogue is to be organised by a key partner, under an umbrella programme curated by the High-Level Champions. The dialogues will be guided by the overarching narrative of the High-Level Champions.

Process

Organizations, initiatives and/or coalitions interested in leading, as a key partner, or supporting one of the dialogues, are invited to submit a short concept note to racetozero@unfccc.int with the subject “[Race to Zero November 2020 Dialogues]:” using the template below and demonstrating that the objectives are followed. The expression of interest will be open for the period of 22 June to 10 July 2020. Based on the criteria below, the High-Level Champions will make the selection on lead and supporting organizations. Due to the great level of interest, it is taking additional time for the High-Level Champions to conclude the assessments. All interested partners will be notified by the High-Level Champions and their teams by the end of August at the latest.

Criteria

The High-Level Champions will conduct a selection process for non-Party stakeholders (NPS) to serve as lead and/or supporting organizations for each dialogue, based on extent of alignment with the following selection criteria:

Commitment to strive for limiting warming to 1.5 °C and a climate-neutral and resilient world
Representation of a wide range of actors, stakeholders and sectors
Geographical representation of regions
Transformational collaboration within or across sector(s)
Level and type of expertise, including in areas like thought leadership, network access, agenda design and facilitation, and other
Relevance in terms of enhancing NDCs
Dialogues showcasing cross-cutting issues like gender, health, education and resilience
Be able to organize the dialogue without additional external financial support.

Key Objectives

The lead and support organizations will work together to ensure that the following objectives are pursued in the proposed dialogue:

Accelerate the move to sectoral tipping points / systems transformation through collaboration, that are applicable to both developed and developing countries and could help them implement and enhance their NDCs for mitigation and adaptation
Address specific barriers that require multi stakeholder collaboration and/or inclusive multilateralism
Show evidence of the transition with measurable impact
Build awareness and support of Climate Action Pathways being used as a normative approach
Cover topics related to mitigation, building resilience and means for implementation
Build consensus that inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues are essential for effective planning and action
Attain sectoral transition commitments from stakeholders
Celebrate action/commitments in 2020 to show that climate action is still on track and critical for the long-term health and resiliency of our economies and communities
Build strategic networks between and amongst Parties and NPS to enable future action
Ensure geographical and gender balance at the dialogue.